US President Donald Trump speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, on August 24, 2026.
Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images
The United States has struck a deal with Venezuela that gives it majority control of more than 65 billion barrels of oil reserves, President Donald Trump announced Friday, as the war with Iran disrupts global oil trade.
In an evening social media post, President Trump said the deal, which he touted as “the biggest oil deal in the history of the world,” would come at “no cost” to U.S. taxpayers.
According to President Trump, the deal will more than double America’s oil reserves. Oil volumes in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve have reached their lowest level since the 1980s, according to Department of Energy data released earlier this month.
President Trump’s agreement with Venezuela was concluded in the wake of the United States’ attack on Venezuela in South America in January. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured during the strike.
President Trump said in a social media post that U.S. officials were coordinating with Venezuelan government leaders. It also leveraged “partnerships” with unnamed private companies to secure deals, he said.
“This deal will greatly strengthen the already growing relationship between Venezuela and the United States,” President Trump said in the post.
President Trump’s announcement comes as consumers grapple with rising energy prices in the run-up to the midterm elections. The midterm elections will determine whether his Republican Party maintains full control in Washington.
President Trump said the Venezuela deal should bring prices down significantly. The average price of a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. on Friday reached about $4.09, up 27% from a year ago, according to AAA.
west texas intermediate Oil prices fell 4% this week, the first week of decline in the past three weeks. Still, prices have risen more than 24% since the US-Iran war began.
President Trump’s war with Iran has disrupted oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, a globally important passageway. Only a few ships pass through Hormuz each day these days, down from about 100 ships a year ago, according to the International Monetary Fund’s Portwatch tracking.
